Music

Music.  The intentions of music probably date back to pre-Biblical times that provided believers to a gateway to communicate with God, or whatever higher being that was believed to be.  Now, music seems to encompass multiple forms.  Some music is written to purely entertain.  Beats are created and mixes are stirred up to catchy rhythms that get people moving with friends, family or just by themselves…in their underwear…dancing in front of the mirror.  Other music is used with children or young adults to learn new concepts in a classroom.    For whatever reason music exists in history, I personally find music to be somewhat of a way to get my thoughts out of my head without juxtaposing the words and transposing the meanings of what I’m thinking, feeling or wanting to say.

I ramble on about music to set a point, I promise!  This past weekend, I spent a lot of time painting doors at our new home.  (By the way, for those of you who want to hang out this summer and I don’t answer your calls or texts on the first try, it’s safe to say that I’m covered in primer or latex paint at the time.  Not trying to screen a call, I swear!)  I spent most of that time by myself.  I don’t mind my “me” painting time.  It allows me to mindless brush (or slop) the paint on the door and to focus on the strokes.  Vertical strokes go UP the beadboard inserts while horizontal strokes go ACROSS the headers and footers of each door!  I was listening to the new Q104.1 and there was the weekend countdown from current country singles.  Starting at #30, the DJ’s worked their way down to #1.  Honestly, I stayed and painted the entire time, and heard all thirty songs.  There were some fun snippets of  “Guess that Year!” in between the countdown.  One particular song popped up that I haven’t heard in quite some time.  But as soon as the song came on, I pictured myself back to the last place I had been when it came on and I truly listened.

May 1999.  I’m at my 8^th grade graduation dance dressed in a hunter green, floor length gown that I had worn in my first cousin’s wedding.  I remember my hair was literally stacked on top of my head, chocked full of bobby pins that found their way out down in my dress and on the floor the entire night.  The stylist had put baby’s breath in my hair and created a shelf with my ridunculously-thick bangs.  I’m pretty sure I snuck on some mascara, although I am fairly certain I hadn’t started wearing make-up yet.  My school’s theme was “I Hope You Dance” and on that first song, it was obviously important that Lee Ann Womack belt out her top single as daughters danced with dads and sons danced with moms.  I remember this experience, because I got to dance with my dad.  This was something I don’t think I had ever done before, and it was a truly wonderful experience.  The lyrics and music blared in the background of that poor acoustic-deprived gym.  Balloons dotted the ceiling and a white handmade-bridge invited guests and their families into the gym over a makeshift stream.  Fans dabbled with twirling ribbons and those ribbons danced as long as the families did that night.  I don’t remember seeing anyone around my dad and I as we danced, but I remember crying like a baby because the lyrics to a song touched my heart. 

In the future, once Cruz and I finally set a date for our wedding, there will be more music to think about.  I know I’ll be choosing some awesome Pop2k hits from my “prime” as well as some good ol’ country that gets the boots a-stompin’.  There will be some oldies, but goodies, and of course the “Cuban” (Cupid) Shuffle will be thrown in there too.  But there’s one song that I am pretty sure of that my dad and I will dance to, and that’s Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance”

I’ll leave you with the lyrics to this special song.  I love you dad!

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Livin' might mean takin' chances, but they're worth takin'
Lovin' might be a mistake, but it's worth makin'
Don't let some Hellbent heart leave you bitter
When you come close to sellin' out, reconsider
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along)
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder, where those years have gone?)

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

Dance
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along)
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder, where those years have gone?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV-Z1YwaOiw